West Ham vs AZ Alkmaar verdict, predicted score, key stats and suggested bets

West Ham may have had a poor season in the Premier League, but they have looked a different team in Europe.

Europa Conference League semi-final first leg, Thursday May 11, Kick-off 8pm, live on BT Sport

West Ham to beat AZ Alkmaar

West Ham vs AZ Alkmaar over 2.5 goals

West Ham have won nine of their 10 Europa Conference League games this season.

West Ham have only lost twice at home in 2023 - to Liverpool and Newcastle.

The Hammers have scored in 13 of their last 14 games in all competitions.

AZ have kept three clean sheets in their last four games in all competitions.

AZ have the second-best away record in the Eredivisie, winning 10 of their 16 matches.

Gianluca Scamacca and Vladimir Coufal missed out against Manchester United and will miss out again.

David Moyes could name the same outfield players which defeated Man Utd 1-0; goalkeeper Alphonse Areola will return between the sticks. Tomas Soucek suffered a head knock during that fixture but he should be passed fit. Kurt Zouma is likely to miss out with an ankle problem.

Jens Odgaard (thigh) is a doubt for AZ after injuring himself versus Ajax. Either Mayckel Lahdo or Dani de Wit will replace him. Milos Kerkez is out due to suspension so Mees de Wit could come in.

West Ham have won every game bar one in their Europa Conference League campaign this season. Only Gent have managed to offer any resistance to the Hammers, drawing their quarter-final home leg 1-1 last month.

The semi-final clash with AZ though should represent the Hammers' toughest test to date. AZ are fourth in the Eredivisie and drew 0-0 with Ajax at the weekend.

Pascal Jansen's young side certainly won't be overawed by the trip to England and have rolled over the likes of Lazio home and away this season. However, they did need penalties to edge though to the semi-finals against Anderlecht after losing the first leg 2-0.

They also lost to Limassol away from home earlier in the competition and, with any youthful side, they can sometimes come unstuck. But, on the whole, they have shown a decent level of consistency and West Ham will have to be careful not to underestimate AZ.

AZ are chasing Europa League qualification for next season and are just two points adrift of third and six ahead of fifth-placed Twente with three games remaining.

They do have some momentum though having defeated Fortuna Sittard and RKC Waalwijk in back-to-back 3-0 wins before the weekend's goalless draw away at Ajax.

That said, West Ham are the 4/7 favourites and have a squad packed with talent and experience. Last season's dismal failure against Frankfurt in the semi-finals of the Europa League could spur the Hammers on this time around.

They will be aware that a below-par performance could mean more semi-final heartache and expect Moyes' men to go after AZ from the off.

AZ will fight fire with fire and they will employ a high pressing game with their full-backs being key this season. Yukinari Sugawara is well regarded and quick enough to cause the hosts problems, but right-back Milos Kerkez, who is probably AZ's best player, is banned.

Defensively, West Ham were solid against Man Utd and they will have to put in a similar display against AZ.

Lucas Paqueta was also in fine form at the weekend and if he can repeat that showing then West Ham look well capable of putting one foot into the Prague final.